TPA 100th Anniversary Events
The Toronto Port Authority (TPA) kicked off its centennial this month with a flag raising at its headquarters on Harbour Street. The Port Authority, created in May 1911 as The Toronto Harbour Commissioners, also announced its renewed participation in Doors Open Toronto, and its plan for a summertime “sail-in movie event” to be held in August, all part of the centennial celebrations.
Now flying next to existing federal, provincial and TPA flags for the first time is the City of Toronto flag. “We are proud partners with the City of Toronto,” TPA President and CEO Geoff Wilson said. “As stewards of the harbour area, neighbours in the waterfront community and supporters of downtown Toronto’s renaissance, the Port Authority is committed to help make this city great.”
Wilson said he felt that raising Toronto’s flag was emblematic of where the relationship with the City now stands. “We are working together, finding common solutions, and helping make downtown Toronto the vibrant centre of our great city.”
In addition to the flag raising, the TPA is involved in several iconic Toronto activities this year. The TPA is this year’s lead summer partner of Harbourfront Centre’s Hot Spot Summer, a fixture in the city’s summer calendar that attracts people to the city from across the globe.
On May 28-29 the TPA’s headquarters at 60 Harbour Street will take part in Doors Open Toronto for the first time in several years. When the Beaux Arts building first opened in 1917, it was situated at the water’s edge. It will feature historical photographs of the building, as well as a tour of the building’s main boardroom, which has been preserved in its original form.
To cap off its centennial celebrations, the TPA will, with the support of waterfront neighbour Redpath Sugar, host Canada’s first ever sail-in movie event. The Toronto Port Authority’s Sail In Cinema is slated to take place on the waterfront at the foot of Jarvis Stree this August. The event will feature a huge two-sided screen so that people can enjoy open air movies in the Toronto Harbour from the mainland or the water.
Details of the event will be made available in July. Wilson said all the movies would be about water, appropriately, and invited the public to submit movie ideas via twitter @TorontoPort, on Facebook at Toronto Port Authority News, or by email to cinema@torontoport.com before July 1, 2011.
Media Contact: Suzanna Birchwood, 416 863 2036/416 317 6405 (mobile)